


A Night with Friends

by BeanWritesStuff



Series: Burning Bridges, Building Confidence [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Classic Movies - Freeform, Discussion of Smash Mains, Dungeons & Dragons References, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Mireille mains a meme, Sleepovers, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-23 04:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21313984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeanWritesStuff/pseuds/BeanWritesStuff
Summary: A group of friends have a sleepover, shenanigans abound.
Series: Burning Bridges, Building Confidence [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1480772
Comments: 3
Kudos: 47





	A Night with Friends

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place within the first few chapters of the main story, after Cole's first week at school, just for time line perspective.

“About time you all got here.” Despite what was said, Chloe’s voice held no venom as Marinette, Mireille, Kagami, Aurore, and Cole walked into her room with bags in hand. 

It was a Friday evening and all their homework was completed. Sensing her moment was at hand, Chloe snatched the opportunity to invite all of them to a sleepover at her hotel. After some calls to parents (and some pleading with Kagami’s mother) the five were all okay to go. 

“Thanks for inviting us," Aurore replied, setting her cloud patterned drawstring backpack next to one of the couches. As the other girls followed suit, Chloe noticed Cole looking in awe around the room.

“This is all yours?” The tall girl asked. Chloe nodded proudly. 

“Been mine all my life,” the blonde replied. Cole looked around the room again.

“And I thought my new room was large,” her voice was barely above a whisper. “This is something else.”

“Either way,” Marinette broke in, setting a batch of sweets on the table as she set her bag down. “It gives us plenty of room to have fun tonight.”

A simple look let Cole know just how much Marinette needed a break. Barely five minutes in and she was already looking more relaxed.

“What do we have planned for tonight then?” Kagami asked, also observing the room. 

“I brought some movies,” Mireille and Cole said in unison before breaking out in laughter and began comparing the movies they brought. Some were cooler recent movies, like _ Wonder Woman, Big Hero 6, The Great Gatsby, _ and _ Pacific Rim; _ others were classics like _ Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Back to the Future, Heathers, The Wizard of Oz, Night of the Living Dead, _ and _ Mean Girls. _

“We could play some party games,” Aurore added, holding up the black case in question. “I brought my Switch if we want to play Super Smash Brothers.”

“Dibs on Bayonetta!” Cole called out before returning to her discussion with Mireille on the merits of Winona Ryder’s performance in _ Heathers _ versus _ Edward Scissorhands _, as well as how good she looked in a suit. 

“Super Smash Brothers?” Kagami asked. Marinette nodded in the fencer’s direction.

“It’s a video game,” She supplied. “Basically a bunch of Nintendo characters in a battle game.”

“And some from other companies too. It’s really fun to play with friends,” Aurore added. “Even if _ someone _,” here she twisted her head to Mireille. “Keeps picking the Mii Gunner just for the Sans costume.”

“You’re just mad I beat you,” Mireille gave a cheeky grin in reply, not noticing Aurore’s blush. Chloe and Marinette did though, and they looked to each other with similar knowing, cheeky grins on their faces. 

“I’ll gladly try it then,” Kagami stated. She tried to recall any characters she’d seen in advertisements, trying to remember which ones were in the game.

“And afterwards,” Chloe continued. “We could play….” 

“Play what?” Marinette pried.

“Well,” the rich blonde looked off to the side. “I kind of wanted to try that Dungeons game that Cole mentioned at lunch earlier.”

“Oh D&D?” Mireille perked up. At Chloe’s nod the dark haired girl bounced on her feet with a grin on her face. “I love D&D! Aurore and I play with some other classmates every week.”

“Yeah,” Aurore adds. “Mirei is our DM for the group, and probably the best ever.” 

“I haven’t played D&D in a while,” Cole hummed. “I still have my character sheets though.”

The squad moved to sit on the couches and chat with each other idly for what felt like minutes, but were hours in actuality. As they spent that time each one of them noticed a change in others. Marinette was looking more relaxed and happy than she’d been in school; Kagami began to loosen up and become more casual, even dropping her ramrod straight posture; Chloe seemed more earnest and genuine, having fun and actually connecting with people. Mireille had become a little more open and energetic, especially as they recounted game night escapades. Aurore was happily interacting with others as she put past discretions behind her. Finally, Cole seemed to let her guard down, the tension ebbing from her body as she let Marinette play with her hair, making tiny braids and buns to her heart’s content.

“—And then he said, “I roll to seduce the dragon,” and everyone lost it,” Mireille giggled, joined by Aurore as they both recalled the incident. The others laughed, Kagami accidentally sending soda out of her nose and Cole choked on her own drink.

“No dying you two,” Chloe teased, taking a bite of the butterscotch macaron as she smiled. Marinette patted her cousin on the back a few times as Aurore handed Kagami a tissue to wipe her nose. 

“I’m so sorry,” Kagami coughed. “That’s never happened before.”

“It’s alright,” Marinette replied. “Stuff like that just happens.”

“At least it’s a regular flavor,” Cole coughed. “I once had blue raspberry soda and it was so gross when that happened.”

“Eww,” came the resounding call across the room, followed by laughter. Aurore yanked her Switch case over and held it up.

“Enough talk, which one do we wanna play first?” She asked. The others thought for a moment. Finally Chloe spoke first,

“Probably Smash first, if that’s okay with everyone.”

“Yeah!” Cole exclaimed, knocking her sealed water bottle over on accident. Mireille turned to Chloe as Aurore and Cole went to set up the console.

“What about D&D? You don’t want to play anymore?” She whispered, she looked a bit hurt, but Chloe put a hand on her shoulder.

“When you talked about your previous experiences, I realized how much work it takes to build a character. I want to make it the best I can, so maybe not tonight, but if you’d be willing to help me make my character, it’d mean a lot,” Chloe replied. Mireille’s eyes lit up and she nodded profusely; character creation was one of her favorite parts of the game.

Off to the side, Marinette watched the interaction with a bit of pride. Chloe was improving a lot. She might not be able to be Queen Bee anymore (a conversation she’d had with the blonde as Ladybug a few weeks prior), but Chloe seemed determined to make her hero proud one way or another. 

“C’mon guys!” Cole called out. “We’ve got it all set up!”

“Dibs on player one!” Aurore snatched the white controller. Cole went wide eyed and grabbed the black one. After a few minutes, everyone had their controllers; Chloe had yellow, Mireille had blue, Kagami had red, and Marinette had pink.

The competition lasted far into the night, with character swaps and cries of victory marking the hours passing. Kagami found herself enjoying the game quite a bit, swapping between maining Marth and trying Joker nearly every round. Mireille stayed firmly in her Mii Gunner, with the Sans outfit of course. Marinette was a hardcore Kirby main, while Cole stuck firmly to dual maining Bayonetta and Joker (which resulted in a lot of Kagami vs Cole matches on Mementos). Chloe and Aurore would use their Samus and Link mains, but sometimes they would try others. 

After a few hours of that, they sat down and watched some movies. Cole and Aurore argued once or twice on which movie to play, resulting in increasingly ridiculous ways of deciding, including but not limited to a handstand contest; a chugging cans of soda, their best interpretation of Hawkmoth, and so on. Their antics gave the others plenty to laugh at as they either chose the movie themselves, or simply grabbed popcorn to watch the two.

Around the same time as Cole and Aurore’s rough housing, Mireille pulled Chloe’s attention over to a D&D sheet, coaching the blonde through the ins and outs of character creation. It took her a few tries, but Chloe eventually got her character, a Sun Elf sorceress, together and ready to go.

After a few more hours they’d gotten rid of the idea of more movies in favor of dancing, be it Cole trying to teach the others some line dances, Mireille trying to replicate music video choreography, Chloe insisting they try ballet, or even Aurore challenging Marinette to a breakdance battle. Eventually they settled into their partner dancing. Aurore with Mireille, Kagami with Marinette, and Chloe with Cole. 

It was nearing two in the morning when their energy began to die out. By that time they’d all changed into their pajamas (after giving Cole a playful hard time about sleeping with a_ single _sock on). 

Marinette, already asleep, was slumped against Kagami’s shoulder. The Japanese teen was nodding off too, having stayed up long past what she normally would. Given that the six were all on Chloe’s massive bed, Kagami had easily laid down on the mattress with Marinette in the still on her shoulder. Aurore and Mireille had passed out nearly half an hour ago, leaving only Chloe and Cole awake. 

The blonde with her expensive silk pajamas was quite a juxtaposition with the French-American teen next to her. Cole’s pajamas consisted of some knee length gray cotton pants, a tank top with a decal on it, a large hoodie, and her hair was everywhere. The two played a video game side by side for a little longer before Chloe finally yawned and said,

“I’m going to brush my teeth, you probably should too.” Cole nodded, stumbling over to grab her toothbrush from her bag, along with a large plastic bag full of toiletries. The two went into the bathroom and began preparing for bed. As Cole brushed her teeth, Chloe spoke. “Thanks for coming tonight, I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Cole nodded and spit out her toothpaste into the running water, turning to the blonde. “Thanks for inviting me. It’s nice to meet new friends.”

Chloe observed her friend for a moment as she began brushing her teeth. Cole opened the bag and pulled her hair back with a hair tie. She took off the top one, a thin, brightly colored one made by Marinette, and set it gently on the countertop. Chloe looked away, spitting her own mouthful of toothpaste into the sink and starting to apply her face mask. Even so, she couldn’t help but notice Cole’s shaking hands as she reached for the medical eyepatch.

“What happened?” Chloe asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

Cole winced as she wiped cleaning solution around her eye, turning away and gently cleaning it as her doctor had instructed her to do. When she turned back, she finally said,

“I can’t go into detail, not yet, but I can give you a rundown I guess,” she added a new layer of gauze to her eye. “My grandpa may be cool and loving, but his son sure as hell wasn’t, not to anyone but himself. And certainly not me. One day, we’d gotten into a fight and he decided enough was enough. Took a hunting knife and,” here she made a stabbing and slashing movement. “Neighbors heard the commotion and came to help. They couldn’t save my eye, but it was enough to get that sick bastard in prison and me into my mother’s custody. Technically she and Grandpa share custody but whatever, he always wanted to come to France again anyway.”

Chloe was still, mouth gaping. As Cole finished putting her medical patch back on she turned to face the blonde. “Chloe? You okay?”

The taller teen suddenly found herself being hugged tightly by the smaller blonde. Her hands were still shaking as she returned the hug. Chloe was muttering something, but with how watery her voice sounded, Cole couldn’t make it out. 

“Chloe, I can’t understand you,” Cole said gently. “What are you trying to say?”

The blonde looked near tears, but Cole couldn’t tell whether it was sadness or rage. Chloe grabbed Cole’s hands in her own, looking the taller girl dead in the eye. 

“I may not have a miraculous,” came the watery reply. “But if he ever tries to come near you again, I’ll make sure he regrets existing.”

Cole gave a weak smile, “I’m not sure he can feel any emotion other than righteous bigotry, but you’re welcome to try.” She turned her head and yawned, head drooping to the side. Chloe wiped her eyes, turning the taller girl around and starting to shove her out of the bathroom.

“But for now bigots can wait for daylight, we need our beauty sleep,” the blonde tuttered, moving to simply hold Cole’s hand as the brunette flicked off the bathroom light and stumbled after her. With all their friends spread out across the bed, the two found it easier to just find a spot on the bed and sleep there. Chloe rolled her eyes in a bit of exasperated amusement, _ sleeping on the foot of her own bed at a sleepover, what had her life become? Definitely less lonely for one. _

However, as the blonde settled in with a luxury pillow under her head, she squinted in the darkness to see all of her friends. Aurore and Mireille on one side, Kagami and Marinette on the side by the window, both groups looking content. Chloe looked back to see Cole, curled up with her head half on the pillow she curled around. A warm feeling rose in her chest as Chloe drifted off to sleep, barely missing the two tiny kwami flying over to their respective chosen for a good night’s sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Wish me luck tonight everyone, physics exam in half an hour.


End file.
